Controlling lighting

Exploring lighting, given the freedom offered by a studio, is interesting and creative - but be prepared to learn one step at a time. Firstly, if you are shooting in color, match up the color balance of your film with the color of your lighting as closely as possible. Table 27.1 shows the code number of the blue conversion filter needed over the camera lens with daylight color film (print or slide) using 500-watt lamps. A few color films, mostly slide, are balanced for artificial light and so need different filtering, or none at all. These films are often referred to as tungsten balanced films.

Start off with a still-life subject because it is easier to take your time experimenting with this than when shooting a portrait. Set up your camera on a tripod and compose the subject. You can

Figures 27.6 and 27.7 Lighting direction: Surface appearances change dramatically when you alter the position of the lamp.

then keep returning to check appearance through the camera viewfinder for every change of lighting, knowing that nothing else has altered.